Parker Coffin

United States

It’s hard to believe that Parker Coffin is only 15-years-old. Most 15-year-olds haven’t been to Australia four times this year. Most haven’t surfed big waves, or plan to surf really big waves. And most don’t have their own blog — actually those things are a dime a dozen these days, a lot of 15-year-olds have blogs — but not blogs that are seen and talked about and reposted by major surf websites. Youngwisetails.com, which Parker co-created with his older brother and best friend Connor, gets over 20,000 unique views per month.

Parker is the kid the rest of the kids look up to. He’s mature. But not in the weird, kid-who-sips-espresso-and-reads-the-Wall-Street-Journal sort of way. He’ll still laugh at farts and pants his friends at NSSA contests, but he’ll also make jokes that crack up the grown men who interview him after heats. Or make those 19-year-old girls say “OMG I cannot wait until you’re 18.” He’ll look you in the eye and give you a firm handshake. You know, mature.

But his maturity extends beyond beachside conversations. He’s been consistently landing air-reverses since he was a preteen. His backside hack has been honed in the righthand points near his home in Santa Barbara, California (think young Bobby Martinez). And he has a thirst for big waves, wanting to transfer the heavy-water experience he’s acquired from his many seasons on the North Shore (his family has a house there) to waves like Maverick’s, which he hopes to surf next season. You’ll be able to read about it on his blog. But you already knew that.